Every salesperson must understand overcoming objections in sales in order to deal with the struggles of an objecting customer. Objections can be derailing, sometimes blunt, and emotion-provoking. When such happens, you are more likely to lose your authoritative sales figure, become defensive, and lose potential customers.
Most sales professionals have been trained to tackle everyday challenges, like dealing with frugal and insistent buyers, disinterested customers, etc. You can always anticipate likely objections from these prospects from the very moment you interact with them and even launch a counter-attack to win back their trust for that win-win solution.
However, not all objections are the same. Some may come unexpectedly and will leave you without a response. If you’ve faced some unexpected customer criticism before, then you know how overwhelming things can get. We’ve rounded up some examples of customer doubts, disapprovals, and complaints and how you will be overcoming objections and handle them as a super sales professional.
Overcoming Objections in Sales: Examples and Possible Solutions
The selling process can be challenging, and if you have tried selling anything before, you know that a prospect can come up with any reason not to buy your product. The details for these objections will vary, from complaints about the price and lack of need to lack of urgency, etc. A great salesperson will use these objections as a gateway to the higher realms – an opportunity to listen to the prospect, understand their needs and give them what they want.
So what are some of the common or rather uncommon sales objections that you’ll likely face in the market? The truth is, they are uncountable. We’ve highlighted the most significant below.
Lack of Budget
If your lead tells you they have no money, their budget is low, or your pricing is too high, you want to drive the conversation in the right direction. It’s easy to object and explain how your competitors have the same prices and so forth, but you’ll have lost it. Instead, assure the prospect that you understand their concerns, then go ahead to explain how investing in the product/service (risk) justifies the benefits they will get (reward).
Trust Issues
If your business, product, or services are relatively new in the market, it’s common for leads to say they have not heard of your company or products yet. This is a genuine concern since reputation and market competence are key to doing business. Perhaps they don’t want to make the wrong choices and be blamed for it. A solution would be to prove your authority in the market by providing testimonials, genuine customer reviews, etc. Building trust isn’t lip-service, so you want your actions and past wins to do the talking.
A Lack of Motivation
The motivation to make a purchase decision comes from two things – need and urgency. If your prospects say, “this product will not help us,” maybe they are right, or perhaps you need to listen and help them figure out the very need they have missed. A good way to track the prospects’ needs and overcoming objections in sales is to use layered and open-ended questions. Get to know their goals, values, challenges and use them to demonstrate the unmet value and how your product or service will help.
On the other hand, a lack of urgency will have your prospect debate on how your timing is wrong or why you should wait for a couple of months or years, etc. To tackle this objection, you want to know your clients’ competing priorities, short and long-term objectives, pressing pain points, etc. Highlighting these areas can help both of you discover the urgent need to deploy your products/services for their own good.
Overcoming Unexpected Objections in Sales
The objections we’ve highlighted above can be relatively easy to handle, provided you have some experience dealing with different personalities in the sales business. However, some objections require high levels of self-awareness, empathy, and negotiation skills to turn the situations around. We’ve rounded up some of them below.
- “Your competitor’s product is better than yours.” – This is an opportunity for self-reflection and to uncover the diamonds in the rough. Highlight your competitive advantages and why you are interested in doing business with them. Keep it firm but modest. Other objections in this category include, “I’m already working with this competitor,” we could work together, but your product is,” “I’m happy with this other company,” etc.
- “I can’t help you. You’ll need to talk to so and so.” – This is a roadblock you could solve by being realistic and weighing the options at hand. If the person is just not interested, get to the bottom of the problem and buy them into a conversation. Otherwise, you should ask them to direct you to the person in charge.
- “How did you get my email or contact information. We are not interested.” – A solution is to be honest, then listen to the prospects to understand their needs and perspectives of things before pitching your products/services. If you do this right, you stand a chance to change their attitudes.
Conclusion
Customer objections are not anything new in the sales industry, and how you approach them makes all the difference. It’s not uncommon to meet arrogant or rigid prospects who won’t change their thinking no matter what, but luckily, the ball is often on your court. Remember, an objecting prospect is an interested customer who’s not yet convinced you are the right buy. Take your time to sharpen your skills, and when an opportunity comes along, seize it!